4

I'm trying to perform an update on an embedded document in MongoDB with the Java driver but receive an IllegalArgumentException that states "fields stored in the db can't have . in them"

My document has the structure:

{
    "_id" : ObjectId("5155d102a47d7b00b7e4bed2"),
    "foo" : {
        "bar" : {
            "name" : "Now"
        }
    }
}

and I want to perform an update like this

var query = {_id:ObjectId("5155d102a47d7b00b7e4bed2")};
var update = {"foo.bar.time":new Date()};
var withSet = {$set:update};
db.samples.update(query,withSet);

which from the console correctly modifies the document

{
    "_id" : ObjectId("5155d102a47d7b00b7e4bed2"),
    "foo" : {
        "bar" : {
            "name" : "Now",
            "time" : ISODate("2013-03-29T18:02:51.591Z")
        }
    }
}

Trying to do the same in Java I have not been successful. I've tried this:

BasicDBObject query = new BasicDBObject("_id", new ObjectId("5155d102a47d7b00b7e4bed2"));

BasicDBObject time = new BasicDBObject("time", new Date());
BasicDBObject bar = new BasicDBObject("bar", time);
BasicDBObject foo = new BasicDBObject("foo", bar);
BasicDBObject withSet = new BasicDBObject("$set", foo);

samples.update(query, withSet);

But it clobbers the embedded bar object, destroying name.

I've also tried:

BasicDBObject foo = new BasicDBObject();
foo.append("foo.bar.time", new Date());    
samples.update(query, foo)

But receive an IllegalArgumentException.

I've seen other answers chosen on Stack Overflow that include this dot notation. Is there something I'm missing? What is the proper way to update a field in an embedded document?

scotavoosh
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  • In your last example the `$set` part is missing, maybe this causes the problem. Try `samples.update(query, new BasicDBObject("$set", new BasicDBObject("foo.bar.time", new Date())));` instead. – nutlike Mar 29 '13 at 20:04
  • Glad it helped - I posted my comment as an answer so you could mark your question as solved. – nutlike Mar 29 '13 at 21:08

1 Answers1

6

In your last example the $set part is missing, maybe this causes the problem. Try 

samples.update(
  query,
  new BasicDBObject(
    "$set",
    new BasicDBObject("foo.bar.time", new Date())
));

instead.

nutlike
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